Cabbage grows best in cool weather, but certain cultivars are also adapted for the warmer months. In the cooler areas of the country, where frost usually occurs early or late in the season, Glory of Enkhuizen, Kiaps Spits, Green Coronet and Gloria can be planted from January to March, and Green Star and Bonanza, from August to January.
In the warmer areas of the country, where little to no frost occurs, Glory of Enkhuizen, Kiaps Spits, Green Coronet and Gloria can be planted from March to May, and Green Star and Bonanza, from January to December.
Cabbage grows best when plantlets are grown and then planted out. You can grow your own plants or buy them from a nursery. Remember that cabbage plantlets cannot be planted out before the age of five to six weeks. If you want to plant out at the beginning of February, for instance, you must already sow the seed in the middle of December.
Cabbage will grow well on most well drained soil types. That means that water must not lay on the ground surface too long after the plants have been watered. Where this is the case, compost must be dug into the soil. Shallow soils on a hard rocky, clayey or lime layer, must be avoided.
Cabbage takes up many plant nutrients from the soil. We put plant nutrients into the soil by digging compost and fertiliser into it. A great deal of organic plant food such as compost and manure is necessary for the plant. When the bed is dug over, 4 kg of compost or manure per square meter (m2) of ground can be dug into the soil.
By the way, 1 m2 equals the size of a square meter, the sides of which consist of spades.
Compost and manure do not, however, provide the cabbage plant with enough plant nutrients. It also requires nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). It is most important first to analyses the soil to determine its nutrient content. Remember: an excessive amount of nutrients will burn the plants and a too small amount will result in poor growth.
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